Brief Lives of Idiots

Ermanno Cavazzoni's Brief Lives of Idiots is a parody of the medieval Lives of the Saints, featuring portraits of idiots drawn from real life, punctuated every seventh day with a litany of suicides. Cavazzoni engages in neither finger-pointing nor celebration, but rather presents idiocy as the human condition.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 23 April 2021
Publisher: Wakefield Press

Ermanno Cavazzoni's Brief Lives of Idiots is a parody of the medieval Lives of the Saints, offering a perfect month of portraits of idiots drawn from real life. The book is a hilarious and poignant exploration of human stupidity, ranging from overly realist writers to fringe-belief obsessives. Every seventh day, a litany of suicides punctuates the narrative, ranging from failed attempts to foolish or fatal outcomes for others.

The roll call of fools extends to melancholic extremes, introducing us to a diverse range of characters. There is the father and husband who cannot recognize his own family, the Marxist who believes that Christ was an extraterrestrial, the would-be saint who finds private martyrdom in the torturous confinement of ill-fitting leather oxfords, and the man who fails to realize that he has spent two years in a concentration camp. Cavazzoni's portrayal of idiocy is a display of myriad foolishness, achieved through paranoia, misapplied methodology, religious hallucinations, or relentless diarrhea.

However, Cavazzoni does not engage in finger-pointing or celebration. He recognizes that idiocy is ultimately the human condition, a universal experience that transcends individuals and cultures. The book serves as a reminder that we are all capable of foolishness and that our mistakes can lead to profound consequences.

Ermanno Cavazzoni, born in 1947, is an award-winning author known for his fantastic and absurd tales. He is a professor at the University of Bologna and a member of the literary group OpLePo, an Italian spin-off of the OuLiPo. Cavazzoni's writing is characterized by its wit, imagination, and ability to explore the darker aspects of human nature. Brief Lives of Idiots is a testament to his talent as a storyteller and his insightful commentary on the human condition.

Weight: 182g
Dimension: 116 x 181 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781939663535